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Session 20 - The Pentacled Eye
Before his friends left for the Arcane Academy and the catacombs that morning, half-elf bard Haeven had a visit from his eyes in the city, a half-elf Port-of-Utopia child named Ella. She delivered him a paper that read "goblins, Gazek" with directions to a building. Asking where she got the information, she opened the door to reveal a shy half-elf boy, who Haeven paid along with Ella. He passed the Golden Port, under heavy guard by Directorate forces, before coming to a warehouse and foundry on the waterfront, a stones throw away from the New Church of Apexion cathedral still under construction. The foundry was under guard by humans, orcs and the strange, misshapen, oversized goblins Haeven had encountered before. The sigil of the Felsic Combine was displayed above the door. He introduced himself, and explained to Squinlin, the large-headed assistant to Gazek, that he was there to trade information. He was led into the foreman's office above the foundry floor where Master Gazek, a richly dressed merchant goblin, was taking breakfast. Haeven sat and they chatted. Gazek told Haeven a little of the Combine, and how they sought to travel to Elysium to speak to the Directorate. He wouldn't reveal everything, but he hinted that it would be of "military import." For his part Haeven spoke a little about the chaos the region was facing, and shared that he'd discovered documents in Lord Cecilia of Victor's manor that made it seem like she was moving against the goblins' iron barges on the Victory River. Gazek seemed concerned, and thanked Haeven for the knowledge. They came to an agreement of an informal partnership, and Gazek explained that Squinlin could convey messages to Gazek if Haeven needed to get in touch. Squinlin gave Haeven a tour of the foundry, where he found that goblins were working tealstone ore into a refined, liquid form for purposes that weren't immediately apparent. Squinlin explained that tealstone made an excellent source of energy, though didn't have all of the information about the operation. Suspicious, Haeven questioned the goblin about his birth, and the birth of other deformed goblins, but Squinlin believed them to all be of natural broods. Haeven promptly returned to the Palace of 1000 Pleasures and took tea, before being informed by Ella that "the druid" had entered the Arcane Academy hours ago, and had not come out. Beneath the mountain, the companions battled five stone dragons who had begun to move after half-elf druid Percival had tinkered with the obsidian covering in the pentacled eye of the chamber they'd found within the catacombs. Floating in the air he was attacked by two of the stone dragons as the others engaged below. Half-air spirit monk Aubrey blasted one of the stone dragons, and then another, with his mighty Fist of Unbroken Air, smashing the stone dragons to pieces with his animal totem quarterstaff. Half-orc fighter Phryne battled with her dark sword, Mildred, while half-elf paladin Arindrake charged his flail with thunderous, explosive magical swings. Beaten bloody, Percival transformed into a giant goat, then a swarm of insects as he joined his companions on the ground. Arindrake was downed not once, but twice, revived each time by Percival. The battle was long and deadly, but eventually the four companions smashed the stone dragons to pieces. After a short rest, they returned through the catacombs to the Arcane Academy, finding a locked door from the catacombs into the archives. Phryne attempted to kick in the door, before Percival transformed into a swarm of insects and appeared naked on the other side of the door, exclaiming, "Oakheart be with you," before Head Archivist Eko unlocked the door for the companions. She asked the companions what they had found, surprised they'd returned alive, and they revealed little other than their battle with the rat king, and the apparition they'd found. Asking if they could have after hours access to the archives, they persuaded her to give them a copy of the key to the catacombs, and to pair with them a young member of the Archivist Club, Urun, a teenage Lowlander. Percival sent an animal message, his sparrow named Twitter, to let Haeven know where they were. Urun lead them to the mess hall where they reunited with Haeven, and they probed as to the archive's activity, and about the disappearance of Zachar and Olli. Urun said they were favourites of the new Head Archivist, and were allowed into the catacombs unsupervised. During the conversation Arindrake opened his Divine Sense and caught a faint whiff of rotting corpses coming off the members of the Archivist Club. The companions came up with a plan to get the Archivist Club away from the Academy, get them drunk and ply them for information. They brought the group to a private room in a tavern and bought round after round of drinks, the younger children becoming extremely drunk quickly, cared for by Aubrey. The heroes found the Archivist Club was mostly a group of dorks. Urun, according to a couple of older students, has apparently always struggled with developing her magic and hasn’t moved beyond basic spellcasting. Although as the evening continued Aubrey and Percival got the impression that maybe Urun and her Archivist Club weren't quite as useless as they appear. Many of the great finds in the Archives over the past few decades, even centuries, were found by volunteers, and not all of them were benevolent. While necromancy is a forbidden art, records and scraps of information still exist in the extensive, chaotic archives. Apparently Urun herself made several significant finds about old legends under the previous Head Archivist. Caring for an eleven year old, also named Aubrey, Aubrey learned that one of the older students named Yaton used to be part of the Archivist Club, but after he had started doing his own research Urun and some of the older members had pestered him to search deep in the Archives where few people ever went, even though he’d only been interested in old potionmaking recipes. "Aubrey Jr." had heard the older Archivist Club members whispering about “old knowledge,” the “old ways,” and “meeting behind the waterfall.” Eventually Yaton had broken his ties with them after threatening to tell the previous Head Archivist about the waterfall and they’d left him alone. Aubrey Jr. revealed the secret to getting behind the waterfall was using a spell to detect magic. The companions escorted the drunk children back to the Arcane Academy, making sure they returned safely to Arindrake's disdain. With a drunken Urun they returned to the Archives, where they left her for the catacombs after lifting her keys off her. On his walk through the catacombs Haeven looked for anything interesting and only found crumbling scrolls--though he did find an ancient, Old Common tome, "Herbert's 1000 Herbs." They returned to the chamber of the stone dragons and the pentacled eye where Percival, lifted into the air once again, attempted to investigate the obsidian aperture, opened when Phryne sat on the altar below. Unable to see anything in the small opening and tunnel inside, he turned into a small spider and began to climb. A couple of feet in he set off a poison needle trap, and shot out of the opening, falling, he transformed into a spider again, failing to catch himself with web, but Aubrey managed to catch the small spider in his palm. With his druidic magic, Percival cured himself of the poison. The group speculated on what was within the opening, or where it led. As before, Arindrake's Divine Sense could pick up an evil resonance, the smell of a charnel house within, stronger when the aperture was open. The group decided to return to the waterfall to find what was behind it. With a detect magic spell, Percival was able to help his companions climb the side of the Westwin to a small plateau above the waterfall, just as morning broke. There they found an ancient mosaic piece, added to over time in both Old Common and modern Common. The mosaic piece depicted a central figure with a half-skull mask, holding a skull in one hand, their chest decorated with the crest of the pentacled eye. The mosaic told the story of the Necromancer Lord, and other snippets of information about necromancy. The group could see more caverns above and beyond the waterfall plateau. ACTIVE QUESTS -Arindrake has been magically aged by 30 years -Phryne is allowed to request a boon from the worshippers of Excelsion -Figure out the source of the undead in the Port-of-Utopia Cemetary, continue the investigation of the Arcane Academy, the Archivist Club's involvement and what lies behind the waterfall -Haeven has informally promised to help Master Gazek reach Elysium -Gain an audience with the Elven Senate of Elysium to present what they know of the goblin activity (perhaps using Lady Aevara of Victor's amulet) -Investigate the encroaching dark forces from the East for the forest spirit (party thinks that the magical and destructive properties of tealstone, these goblin factories and Ghazek from Gobelton have something to do with it) -Escort Edlee to Elysium